


Atomic Apocalypse

by msunicornspace



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout Tactics (Video Game), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fallout (Video Games) Setting, Apocalypse, F/F, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Fiction, Future Fic, Inspired by..., Nuclear Warfare, Nuclear Weapons, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Nuclear War, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Survival, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msunicornspace/pseuds/msunicornspace
Summary: The bombs fell in 2077, sending the world into an apocalyptic holocaust.  Under the threat of nuclear war, the American government let vaults be created as a way for citizens to find safety. They were advertised as apartments for small families underground with an Overseer watching over them, creating a community so they would be prepared to restart in the future. Layla and her family were lucky enough to gain a spot in Vault 7, hidden by the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. But they were quick to learn that the vault was not meant for families.Layla is woken to a strange man in a broken home, surrounded by the skeleton of the lush world she once knew.  She doesn't have a family anymore and is determined to find out that they are still alive.  She must learn how to handle herself in the dynamic and savage world of the wasteland as quickly as possible or be dinner for some sort of mutated predator.Is Layla able to trust the strange inhabitants of the now dead Sunflower State if it means she could find her family?  Will her search bring terror and unwanted feelings?





	1. Preface

This is inspired by the Fallout game series. The prewar timeline in my story matches the game. The premise might be leaning too close to Fallout 4 but my own spin on it, I guess. 

There will be blood and guts, drugs and maybe sex, death, and cursing. There are some gay tones to it so if ya don't like that do not read it, please.

I want to try to update weekly, but no promises.

This is a story I hope to publish someday, so please give me criticism.

~~

 

Welcome to the Wasteland! 

The N.W.A stands for New World Association, a community of synthetic scientists ruled by a man named William. They are holed up in what used to be a shopping center in Kansas City, Kansas- now known as KC- blocked off from everyone with high-grade security and walls. While no one of the N.W.A has been seen, there is a conspiracy that they rob graves and steal brains of the deceased then plants the brain into a synth. It's only talk though.

The Inheritance is a group of rebels set on completely destroying the N.W.A. They believe synths are under mind control and need to be freed and the only way to do that is to destroy the main building, the main leader. The Inheritance is under the control of Gunnr with their base set in Wichita, Kansas- now known as New Wichita. They are a rough group of people who have not seen the good in the post-apocalyptic world, but they still know that they are the better side.


	2. I. Crawl out Through the Fallout

_Through the rain of Strontium 90_

_Think about your hero_

_When you're at Ground Zero_

_And crawl out through the fallout back to me_

"So, are you going to tell me why you were frozen?" His voice was heavy like his boots that clunked up the weak wooden steps until he was standing over a tiny, curled up body on the ground. The only thing that stuck out of the warm, scratchy blanket was thick red hair, still a little wet from melting. The man with the scared face and mismatching eyes knelt down and lifted the blanket up. A girl was hidden underneath it, her lips red from being chewed on since she woke up and skin pale from getting no sun in who knows how long. Her green eyes were looking straight ahead and glossed over. Snot was crusted around her button nose.

"Let's sit up." While he sounded like he had been smoking cigarettes for 50 years, his tone was gentle and he pulled the blanket off of the young woman. She didn't even blink. The man stepped behind her and grabbed her under her armpits, pulling up and over to the wall of the house for her to sit against. She felt like a hundred-pound rag doll and her head even rolled a little.

"I know you're alive, you're breathing," he muttered as he pulled over a bucket and sat on that in front of her. Her bloodshot eyes were looking over his shoulder. "Are you deaf? Are you a mute?" She blinked and he took a deep breath and rubbed his face with a rough hand. It was something.

"My name is Killian," he leaned in. "What's yours?" The girl's eyes moved to his face and he noticed them slowly brighten from a dead green to a vibrant emerald.

"Layla." Her throat was cracked, when was the last time she had water? "My name's Layla." Layla blinked and felt like she had just woke up from a dream. Her head felt heavy and her hair was wet and stuck to her face. Her loose fitting jumpsuit was also wet in some spots and she wasn't wearing any shoes, just clean white socks. With blurred vision, she had just been staring past the man, though the only thing she could see was the sun casting a low orange hue over the room. She blinked again and focused on the man in front of her, Killian. His tan, wrinkled face was shadowed by his hood, but she could see large white scars pulling his skin tight on the left side. His eyes were bright, almost glowing, and didn't match; one was a golden amber and the other was a light purple. But as interesting as they were, Layla couldn't look long because his stare was intense. She didn't know why, but she had to look down at the dusty, torn apart floor.

"Do you remember anything?" He asked her. Layla's brain felt like it was pulsing as she tried to think with her eyes closed. She had opened her eyes to a bare wall and looked at that for however long and then she was sitting up and looking at Killian. "Do you know how long you were in the vault?" The Vault. Layla looked at her thigh, covered by the beige jumpsuit and a large bright orange number seven. She remembered something about a vault. There were vaults because of a war, made by the government as living quarters for American Citizens under nuclear threat.

"There were bombs," Layla whispered. An echo of the siren blaring through the sky on that day entered her mind. She could remember how fast her heart had raced as she waited in a line outside of a large round door surrounded by men in power armor with guns.

"Bombs that dropped over 200 years ago," Killian leaned away from her and sighed deeply. Layla thought she misheard him.

"Bombs that dropped how long ago?"

"200 hundred years." Layla thought he was joking. She had gone to the vault on October 23rd, 2077 with the impression that she and her family would be living in an apartment surrounded by people who would be in the same conditions. Her family.

"Where are they?" Layla suddenly felt desperate, forgetting that he said 200 years ago. Images of a man with a charismatic smile holding onto a beautiful older redheaded woman and a young man with a baby face popped into her head. Where was her brother who she always stayed close to even if there was a 4-year difference. Where was her dad who she looked up to like a person to be? Where was her mom who gave the kindest hugs?

"Who are they?" Killian asked gently.

"My family," Layla broke into a loud sob. She didn't care if it was awkward to be crying in front of a stranger, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Killian didn't say anything and didn't look away. Layla had no idea where she was and the more she sat up, waking up, the more confused she was. The room had holes in the walls and holes in the floor. Glass was scattered everywhere from windows and there was a terrible rotten smell burning the hairs in her nose. Where was she and why was this man asking so many questions, claiming bombs dropped 200 years ago?

"I found you in a pod, frozen, with no one but skeletons." Killian shook his head. "I don't know where your family is." That only made her cry harder. She was frozen as well? That had to be why her hair was wet, it had melted from being in the warm air. Her mind flashed to the doctor in the vault handing her the jumpsuit she now wore and telling the participants- Layla, her family, and others- to get into the "decontamination pod". Then a robotic voice inside of the pod counting down from five. Then her mind going blank.

"Where am I?" Layla asked him through a choked sob.

"Atch, Kansas, July 6, 2297." Layla felt light headed. There was no way the year was 2297, there was no possible way she could have been frozen for over 200 years. And where the hell was Atch, Kansas. She had lived in Atchison, Kansas her whole life, there was no such place as just Atch. It was too much for her to take in, she thought she was losing her mind. She grabbed her thick red locks and pulled tight, hoping the pain would wake her up from this nightmare. She would wake up in her bed at home and the threat of bombs in the first place wouldn't even be there.

"So you're really from a different time, huh?" Killian asked. She didn't say anything, but what she wanted to do was yell at him to shut up and stop mentioning her being from the future. "You're a prize to be won, my dear."

"What does that even mean?" Layla didn't like the sound of it though.

"You have no sort of mutations," Killian stood up and started to pace in front of her. "I have to take you to New Wichita, Gunnr will want to see you." New Wichita? Layla had heard of Wichita before, a small city south of Atchison. What is up with all of the strange new names for towns she knows? Who now who is this Gunnr guy?

"Who's Gunnr?" Layla sniffled.

"A man who is not quite a man," Killian had looked down at her with a sly smile. "I want to know more about you." He walked over to the top of the stairs where a bag was laying and he dug around in it until he pulled out a small wooden pipe and a leather pouch. Layla watched him until he sat down, wondering if she could or should tell him anything. This was a strange man who could be capable of anything. But Layla knew she was weak when she would shift her legs they would tremble and felt weak.

"I don't know what to say." She breathed in her snot and Killian pulled out a very dirty rag from his back pocket.

"I promise I just washed it." He went to work on pinching some sort of powder in the pouch and putting it in the pipe. "I suggest with why you were in the vault." Layla sat there for a moment. Why was she in the vault?

"My dad," as she spoke, it came to her. "He worked with the government, I don't know where, but he's smart, a total computer nerd. That's how we got in."

"Okay, did you have any siblings?"

"Noah," Layla breathed out. Noah was her older brother who was as smart if not smarter than her dad but spent his time in community college art school, living in an apartment with his friends close to home. Layla wouldn't admit it outloud, but she kind of looked up to him. He could always fit in and could always make anyone's day. He was just an outgoing person, the opposite of her.

"Noah?" Killian repeated with a raised eyebrow. He had pulled out a match and lit the reddish powder, pulling in a long breath of smoke. "He your brother?" Layla nodded her head, trying too hard to hold back her tears. Killian nodded his head and looked at the floor for a bit then looked back up at Layla with a sad look and blew a fat cloud of smoke in her face.

"Gunnr will help you," he said after a loud rattling cough. "You just have to prove to me you're worth helping."

***

Killian had left Layla with more questions than answers that night. She didn't know how, but she had fallen into a deep sleep and didn't wake up until Killian kicked her side. Her body was sore and her face was crusted over from tears and snot. The morning sun was shining through the holes and broken windows of the house. Killian was standing at one of the broken windows with a large rifle held up and he was looking out the scope.

"Rise and shine, Red," his voice was muffled. "I let you sleep in. Once I clear out these bugs, we can head out. There's a can of food and a bottle of water in the corner for you." Layla looked at one of the corners in the bedroom and saw an open can of dog food next to a bottle of brown water. She then looked back at him, who had just fired the gun at whatever was outside. The pop was loud and made Layla's sensitive ears ring and her head vibrate. She cupped her head in her hands and groaned. There was no way this was real, there was no way she was in some house watching a man shoot a gun who just offered her dog food. There was no way she was going to eat that dog food.

"I want to find my family," Layla whimpered and lay back down. She didn't feel like moving and she didn't feel like finding out what he was shooting at. She didn't know where to begin to look for her family. Killian said there was no way they would be alive, but Layla knew they had to be; she felt it in her heart.

"Listen here, Missy." Killian suddenly turned on his heel, shouldering his weapon, and taking a large step in her direction. She looked up and he was pointing a thick, gloved finger at her and even though both eyes were still different colors, they were both on fire from a change in mood.

"Your family is most likely dead but I'm going to help you find them if you will just stop crying and do as told!" Layla was very much taken back. He had been polite to her last night and patient, but his loud voice made her shrink into herself. She felt more like a seven-year-old child than an 18-year-old. And it just made her cry more. Killian threw his hands up in frustration and stormed down the stairs.

"Come down in five minutes!" She didn't know how she would be able to tell the time with no clock but she figured five minutes meant as soon as possible. Layla sat up with waterfalls coming from her emerald eyes and rubbed a hand over her face, pushing away her red hair that was plastered to her cheeks. She looked to her side and saw a pair of black boots waiting for her, recognizing them as the ones she wore into the vault; Killian must have put them there. She slipped them onto her feet and managed to stand up after taking her time. She leaned against the wall behind her for a second so her legs could adjust to carrying her weight again. As she waited for her legs to stop shaking, she eyed the dog food and her stomach growled. Not the response she had wanted. But she was hungry and knew she needed to eat before going on a trip.

Layla walked slowly to the corner, her boots crunching on glass and making the weak wood floors creak. As she moved across the room, she passed by an open window, catching a warm breeze that stung her nose from a putrid smell. She turned to see the source and almost fell to her knees. The rising sun coming from behind the house was shining on a small town in the midst of deteriorating. And the small town was Layla's small hometown, Atchison. She could see the tall church in the middle of all of the side by side brick buildings. The thick trees that had lined the streets were either fallen or standing stripped to the bone. Houses looked as if a tornado had flown through. Her heart ached as if there was an actual crack forming. There was the place she grew up in shambles.

"What happened?" Layla whispered to herself. This was not what she was promised when she entered the vault. She was promised a future, but there was no future out there.

"We gotta go!" Killian yelled from downstairs, making Layla snap out of it. She went as fast as she could to grab the food and water and go down stairs. Killian was standing in the front door frame- the door was nowhere to be seen- with his gun over his shoulder and items in his hands. He work a black cloak that went down to his ankles with the hood up and a scarf was wrapped around his mouth and chin.

"You need to change, I found a hat, gloves and glasses." Killian handed her the items to put on. "I'm going to cover your clothes in mud."

"You're going to what?" Layla looked over the sunglasses when he said that. There was no way she was going to walk around with mud on her clothes. Sure, dirt never really gave her a problem before hand, but she wants to try to stay as clean as possible for as long as possible.

"You stick out like a sore thumb," Killian said it like it was obvious. Layla remembered him mentioning her being some sort of prize last night. "Do you want to be kidnapped and raped?" Layla definitely didn't like that idea and kept her mouth shut with a little tremor.

"Eat while I go get some mud." He ordered. Layla's throat closed at the thought of trying to push down the warm, jellied dog food but her stomach growled angrily at her for thinking she didn't have to eat. She took the silver spoon and a dug just a small helping out of the can. The meat looked fake and had unidentifiable chunks in it. The smell was strong but she couldn't place any familiar scents to it. Layla gagged, held her nose with her other hand and took the bite. It was smooth enough for her to just swallow straight away and despite the smell, it didn't leave much of a taste. She took small bites, each getting better than the last until Killian came back in with a rusted bucket with what she guess was mud.

"I need to cover that number seven and make you look like you belong somewhat." Killian set down the bucket on the kitchen table and pulled a broken wooden chair in front of him. "Come here." Layla made her way on over, not limping anymore, and sat down. Killian had pulled over a chair for himself as well and sat down close to her. He put his hand in the bucket and his fingers came out dirty and ready to be smeared all over Layla's face.

"Stop giving me those big ole puppy dog eyes." Killian had just spread some brown mud over one cheek and was moving to her neck. "It's pathetic." Layla didn't know she was doing it, but his comment made her want to cry, which would only make the eyes a bigger problem. "And don't start crying, it'll make the dirt run."

"I'm sorry," Layla whispered and closed her eyes while she took deep breaths. Her brother always made her do that when she got frustrated- which seemed like all the time.

"I guess I should give you the rundown on this dead world," Killian rubbed mud on the number seven that was on her leg quickly then had had turn around. "You don't speak unless spoken too, which I think will be easy enough for you. You do not stare at anyone or anything for too long. Keep your head down. And just because you saw one person with a pet wolf doesn't mean you can have one." Layla was a little confused by that last one, but kept her mouth shut. "There will be a lot of things you haven't seen. Ignore them, let me handle it. Do not leave my side, do not let anyone convince you to buy anything without my approval, do not let anyone convince you they are trustworthy. My goal is to get to New Wichita in on piece, so that's your goal too now." Layla swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Her heart had started to beat fast with anxiety and her eyes were watering again. Killian had put patches of mud on her clothes and made a pile of dust on the table to fling at her. She wasn't ready to face whatever was out there. She wasn't ready to see whatever strange things Killian mentioned. She just wanted it to be 2077 again without any threat of war.             


End file.
